Hey there, all you “New Moon” fans!

Malaria No More is a beneficiary of a special charity screening of “New Moon” on Thursday, November 19th in New York City. Find details about tickets here.

ALSO, Malaria No More has scored four tickets to the advance New York press screening of “New Moon”—the latest installment in the blockbuster Twilight series—for Wednesday, November 18th.

See the new movie two days before it hits theaters and show YOU are the biggest Twilight fan around. Join New York’s movie critics and cinema writers at the exclusive press-only preview.

We’re offering two tickets each to one lucky winner on Twitter and one on Facebook–here are the details:

On Twitter: In 140 characters or less, tell us how vampires are like malarial mosquitoes. The winning tweet must be creative—and the best Tweet will win you two free tickets. Be sure to include #MNMBlood so we can find your tweet.

On Facebook: Become “Top Recruiter” for the Malaria No More Twilight Causes page on Facebook and win two tickets! Get your friends to sign up and support the cause—and maybe they’ll get to be your lucky guest!

Both contests are from now until 3pm ET on Wednesday, November 18th. We’ll Tweet and Facebook post the winners and have you get in touch to get your tix.

(Note: contest winners receive tickets only; transportation and other arrangements are not provided.)

Want to get involved but don’t know where to start or how to throw a fundraiser? No worries. America’s Giving Challenge is here to help.

Last week, the Causes app on Facebook got a face-lift. American’s Giving Challenge works through Causes to help support the charities YOU support. The challenge launched on October 7 and ends this November 6, offering cash awards totaling $170,000. The awards work like this: there’s a daily winner of $1000 – the charity with the most number of donors per day, and there’s a challenge winner of $50,000 – the charity with the most donations over the course of the month.

We have a shot at winning this thing and need your help to champion us to the top! From now until November 6, visit us on Causes and donate $10 or more to your favorite cause.

Fresh from New York Fashion Week and arriving this morning at Heathrow airport, Victoria Beckham wore Stephen Webster’s latest piece of glam rock jewelery; the mosquito ring.  Webster, famed for his originality and exquisite, cutting edge designs created the piece to raise funds for new charity Malaria No More UK and to support the Malaria Awareness Campaign which highlights the issue of malaria among UK travelers.

Victoria Beckham said, “It’s a fabulous statement piece and I’ve loved wearing it. It’s inspiring to see designers like Stephen working the power of fashion to save lives. Malaria is such an important issue, killings more children under five in Africa than any other single disease.  I’m crossing my fingers this collaboration will generate loads of buzz and funds for new charity Malaria No More UK”.

The Mosquito ring is fashioned in rhodium plated white gold set with ruby cabochons, white diamond wings, a silver diamond tail and a black diamond band and will be sold to the highest bidder. Private bids now being taken.

360 limited edition replica rings will be sold exclusively via UK online fashion retailer ASOS.com starting October 1, 2009 for £50 each.

This weekend, traveling the roads from New York to Maine for a wedding, I tuned into Marketplace on NPR to learn the latest goings-on in this emotional Tilt-A-Whirl we call the current US economy when—surprise, surprise!—I found myself smack-dab back in the malaria world.

In a great piece about the First National Bank of Orwell, Vermont, some local schoolkids go up to the teller to complete a transaction and we, the lucky listeners, are treated to this:

First, click here. Trust me, it’s way more fun with the audio.

(Kids) “Can we please have a check for 350 dollars?” (Teller) “Now how are you going to pay for that check?” (Kids) “Right here.  That’s how much there is.” (Teller) “Okay.  Well, you know what I have to do, I have to count it.” (Kids) Okay, yup, Mrs. S said.” (Teller) “And who is the check going to be made to?” (Kids) “MALARIA NO MORE!” (Teller) “Okay! It’s going to take me a minute…”

Granted, this story had nothing to do with malaria, but doesn’t it say something wonderful about the world today that kids in Orwell, Vermont have small-town experience in banking and global experience in philanthropy?

I’ve always said mosquitoes were attracted to me. I leave a day at the park covered in bites that morph into large itchy welts. And why me? Apparently, because I’m stress-free.

Scientists at Rothamsted Research in the U.K. have been researching which human scents attract and repel mosquitoes. Although, scientists haven’t pinpointed what gets their little wings flapping, they’ve identified two scents that send them flying in the other direction: nail-polish remover and a blend of “stress” chemicals.

Which is better, stressing or scratching? I’ll leave that to the experts to decide.

However, Erica isn’t going to let this news ruin her stress-less summer, and will continue to attend BBQs, parks, pool parties and other outdoor activities in the face of danger.

Today, the New York Times Dot Earth blog posted an article, An Environmentally Friendly Mosquito Repellent, about the effects of DDT on our environment and high hopes for a new study investigating a “green” alternative. The Malaria Policy Center blog covered the scientific study, and we’ve provided an excerpt from the post here:

Researchers at the University of California, Riverside are working to create repellents for insects, like malarial mosquitoes, with more natural and safe chemicals. The Nature journal reveals study findings up to this point and, with a grant from the Gates Foundation, researchers will continue to refine the process and eventually finalize a usable repellent to change the way we keep pesky bugs from biting us. The science has to do with the smells we emit, mostly with carbon dioxide, that entice mosquitoes.

Other experts in the field of mosquito olfaction also recognize the potential. “This work clearly speaks to the idea that you can target these olfactory-driven sensors that lead to olfactory-driven behaviors, and perhaps misdirect insects away from crops and people—critical issues in terms of global health and agriculture,” says Laurence Zwiebel, a professor of biology and pharmacology at Vanderbilt University who was not involved in the research. “I believe that we can find natural inhibitors of odorant receptors that mosquitoes use to do the things that we don’t like that they do.”

Waiting with bated breath for the rest of the story? Visit the MPC blog for details.

Are you looking for a new internship to match your new back-to-school look? Do you want to change the world but don’t know where to start? You’ve come to the right place!

We can’t promise we’ll make you run for coffee or take out the trash, but we can promise you a good time with a bunch of malaria geeks and an enriching and exciting experience at Malaria No More! We’re looking for interns in our Communications, Development and Programs departments.

See a complete list of internship opportunities here and feel free to leave comments if you have questions.

This weekend, the New York Times dedicated its magazine to women’s issues, with special features centered around an excerpt from “Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide,” a book by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, who recently won the 2009 Literary Peace Prize. The magazine discusses the different ways to empower women worldwide, and we completely agree, for we also believe women hold the keys to child health and malaria prevention for the entire family.

In the article, “A Woman’s Crusade,” an excerpt from the book:
Surprisingly frequently, we’ve come across a mother mourning a child who has just died of malaria for want of a $5 mosquito bed net; the mother says that the family couldn’t afford a bed net and she means it, but then we find the father at a nearby bar. He goes three evenings a week to the bar, spending $5 each week.

In the article, “A New Gender Agenda,” an interview with Hillary Clinton:
But women die every minute from poor maternal health care. You know, H.I.V./AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria — those are all, unfortunately, equal-opportunity killers. Maternal health is a woman’s issue; it’s a family issue; it’s a child issue.

For more information about what Malaria No More is doing for maternal health, visit our Malaria Policy Center.

Erica has pre-ordered “Half the Sky” and looks forward to beginning the book on September 8^th.

Thanks to our friends at Malaria No More UK for the tip: last week, there was a giant mosquito roaming the streets of London, warning people of the threat of malaria and the need for Britain (and the world) to join Africa in fighting the scourge. We’ve since learned that the mosquito was none other than MNM UK’s Executive Director, Sarah Kline!

See below for a guest post from Sarah:

It wasn’t in the original job description but…

Last Friday I donned our (wo)man sized mosquito suit to take our message to the streets of London. We wanted to tell the public – and a lot of tourists – about Malaria No More UK and to remind people to protect themselves if they were off to a malaria zone.

Its amazing how many people want their picture taken with a giant mosquito! Little kids either wanted to hug me or run away. And policemen just weren’t sure what to do.

We attracted quite a bit of attention and got some great photos. And most of all everyone had fun while at the same time learning about something deadly serious.

Learn more about how the UK is fighting malaria at www.MalariaNoMore.org.uk.

Just when we thought we hated them – they turn around and do something nice for us!

Malaria infected mosquitoes kill nearly a million people each year, most of them children in Africa. But in a recent experiment, mosquitoes delivered a “vaccine” of live malaria parasites to 5 innocent subjects – AND all of the subjects developed immunity to malaria! Meaning: if these people were on the show Survivor, they’d all be safe from getting shipped off the island!

This is the best bloody news we’ve heard all week. But we still have a long way to go before a doc will write us a prescription for these suckers.

Read all about the experiment here.